Just for the heck of it, I think I'll blog tonight. I am in a B'shnorkestra state of mind. I'm very excited because on Saturday I will be mixing the recording from the shows with Jherek Bischoff. I can't wait. I love the mixing process; balancing all of the voices just right so that the chords resonate. We are not going to do a super polished mix, just enough so that it sounds good and we can put it with the video. I got a video of the first song from Brianna Atwell and it looks great. She edited together 3 different cameras.
To be honest, not a day goes by that I don't miss this project. It's so funny how nervy you can be leading up to something, but I look back on it all as such a great time in my life. I loved the excitement of it, working with those musicians, and the exhiliration I felt being able to write that much. Now I am back at the drawing boards, trying to figure out how to do it again. I still feel like I would like to record those 8 pieces in a studio and then have another show in which I generate all new music. Raising the money is such a huge hurdle; I'm sure I'll jump it, it just takes time and patience. I can't let it overwhelm me, but sometimes it does.
I feel like I have been in a bit of a holding pattern because I keep leaving town. I am either preparing to leave or recovering. On Sunday I am going to Portugal, Poland, and Spain with Publish The Quest. In Poland, we are opening for Nneka. I saw her perform in Zimbabwe and was blown away by her. Her lyrics come from a really deep and honest and strong place. I really admire that and think its so rare to hear.
When I get back from this trip I will throw myself back into it all again. Video and audio will go up, grants will be written, etc. Just thought I'd write a little nostalgic blog before I go.
B'shBLOGestra: words, thoughts, jokes & spectacles from Samantha Boshnack...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Post-B'shnorkestra come down
Wow. Here I am post premieres. These shows were unlike anything I could have imagined.
Thursday's show came after three days of rehearsals and I was feeling so good. We had a good turnout and a super enthusiastic crowd. The focus and energy on stage was incredible. I felt like we really nailed the music better than I could have ever imagined. I mean, we had never performed these 8 songs together before, something had to go wrong right? But, no. These musicians gave it their all and the show went off without a hitch. I find out after the show that the one hitch that happened was a computer glitch. A glitch which meant that the show did not get recorded. This lives up to the musician lore out there which says that the best shows do not get recorded. I was dissapointed but I was on such a high from the show that it didn't get me down. I counted my lucky stars that I had the foresight to schedule two shows in order to get a recording instead of one.
Saturday's show came after a day off. It was really exciting to see and hear very positive responses from audience members from Thursday. But for some reason, it made me more nervous. I can't explain it. I learned that a debut show feels really different than the second show. Expectation makes things different.
And then, the craziest thing happened. I was in the green room 15 minutes before the show was supposed to start and had my horn on my arm. I reached to take down a plastic chair to sit on and bumped my horn. Background info on me; I'm a klutz. I bang my horn into things all of the time. Luckily I play an instrument that is tough and I have never had any problems because of it. This night, however was different. All of the sudden the third valve wouldn't move anymore. I still can't figure out how it happened. Everyone rushed around, grabbing trumpet players from the audience and calling others. One trumpet player showed up with an extra student horn that he had, and Chris Credit ran to my house to get my flugelhorn. I also had a student in the audience who had her horn. We had to start the show about 35 minutes late and I had to play the show on a student horn plus my flugelhorn. We all tried to see the good in this. It did bring the band together in a very special way and I have to say it knocked the nerves right out of me. I did feel sad however not to have been able to play my horn and have my sound. I also felt guilty for having made the audience wait.
The band played great once again, there were incredible moments and the music went off very well. There were some little mistakes, but the energy was fierce. We had an even larger crowd than on Thursday. So many musicians came to both shows, I have never felt so supported by the Seattle music scene. But beyond musicians there was a diverse audience from young to old.
Since the shows I have been trying to process and determine the next step. Leading up to this, I really didn't know what this would lead to. I feel very strongly now that I need to record these 8 songs in a studio and get the best recording possible. I also know that the band will play again. I am working on booking gigs at schools in conjunction with another gig to make it work financially.
I am really incredibly grateful to have had such a great premiere experience. The feeling I had on stage was unlike anything I had felt before, and I loved it. I had spent so much time leading up these shows imagining worse case scenarios; I wouldn't have the music written in time, we wouldn't get enough rehearsals, we wouldn't learn the music well enough to pull it off, only four people would show up, and so on and so forth. It's crazy that the two things that went wrong were both things that I never could have imagined.
I am so thankful to so many people who made this show possible - my great circle of family and friends who supported me through it all, the musicians, Beth Fleenor, Oliva Taguinod, Arie Pytel, Francisca Garcia, Mell Dettmer, Paurl Walsh, Erica Langley, Charles Atwell, Brianna Atwell, Brad Hebert, and Kirk Nordenstrom.
Thursday's show came after three days of rehearsals and I was feeling so good. We had a good turnout and a super enthusiastic crowd. The focus and energy on stage was incredible. I felt like we really nailed the music better than I could have ever imagined. I mean, we had never performed these 8 songs together before, something had to go wrong right? But, no. These musicians gave it their all and the show went off without a hitch. I find out after the show that the one hitch that happened was a computer glitch. A glitch which meant that the show did not get recorded. This lives up to the musician lore out there which says that the best shows do not get recorded. I was dissapointed but I was on such a high from the show that it didn't get me down. I counted my lucky stars that I had the foresight to schedule two shows in order to get a recording instead of one.
Saturday's show came after a day off. It was really exciting to see and hear very positive responses from audience members from Thursday. But for some reason, it made me more nervous. I can't explain it. I learned that a debut show feels really different than the second show. Expectation makes things different.
And then, the craziest thing happened. I was in the green room 15 minutes before the show was supposed to start and had my horn on my arm. I reached to take down a plastic chair to sit on and bumped my horn. Background info on me; I'm a klutz. I bang my horn into things all of the time. Luckily I play an instrument that is tough and I have never had any problems because of it. This night, however was different. All of the sudden the third valve wouldn't move anymore. I still can't figure out how it happened. Everyone rushed around, grabbing trumpet players from the audience and calling others. One trumpet player showed up with an extra student horn that he had, and Chris Credit ran to my house to get my flugelhorn. I also had a student in the audience who had her horn. We had to start the show about 35 minutes late and I had to play the show on a student horn plus my flugelhorn. We all tried to see the good in this. It did bring the band together in a very special way and I have to say it knocked the nerves right out of me. I did feel sad however not to have been able to play my horn and have my sound. I also felt guilty for having made the audience wait.
The band played great once again, there were incredible moments and the music went off very well. There were some little mistakes, but the energy was fierce. We had an even larger crowd than on Thursday. So many musicians came to both shows, I have never felt so supported by the Seattle music scene. But beyond musicians there was a diverse audience from young to old.
Since the shows I have been trying to process and determine the next step. Leading up to this, I really didn't know what this would lead to. I feel very strongly now that I need to record these 8 songs in a studio and get the best recording possible. I also know that the band will play again. I am working on booking gigs at schools in conjunction with another gig to make it work financially.
I am really incredibly grateful to have had such a great premiere experience. The feeling I had on stage was unlike anything I had felt before, and I loved it. I had spent so much time leading up these shows imagining worse case scenarios; I wouldn't have the music written in time, we wouldn't get enough rehearsals, we wouldn't learn the music well enough to pull it off, only four people would show up, and so on and so forth. It's crazy that the two things that went wrong were both things that I never could have imagined.
I am so thankful to so many people who made this show possible - my great circle of family and friends who supported me through it all, the musicians, Beth Fleenor, Oliva Taguinod, Arie Pytel, Francisca Garcia, Mell Dettmer, Paurl Walsh, Erica Langley, Charles Atwell, Brianna Atwell, Brad Hebert, and Kirk Nordenstrom.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Opening Night!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYDtThD60pE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oWokSkZaQI
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Jazz Now episode 51
Check out this nice shout out from Seattle's jazz podcast.
http://jazznowseattle.com/jazz-now-seattle-episode-51/
http://jazznowseattle.com/jazz-now-seattle-episode-51/
KBCS tonight!
I am going to be on KBCS tonight on Flotation Device from 10-10:45 PST. I will be playing recordings of compositions of mine from Reptet albums as well as B'shnorkestra and talking about the shows on Thursday and Saturday. Tune in - http://kbcs.fm/site/PageServer.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Rehearsals in full swing
We have been B'shnorking a whole lot over here on Capitol Hill. Me and these 11 awesome musicians have been working really hard on the new pieces. I must say its a lot of music, but we are getting it. It's been a mix of detailed work on composed parts combined with jamming on sections to get the grooves worked out. It's really coming together quite nicely. Not to mention there is a really nice vibe in the rehearsals because on top of being great musicians these are all nice people that are fun to spend time with. My chronic hiccup squawk showed up at rehearsal yesterday to crack up cellist Maria.
Tomorrow we have our first rehearsal with Lalo, I'm really looking forward to adding him to the mix and having three percussionists on three tunes.
When not in rehearsal, I have been spending many hours listening to these rehearsals and practicing my parts and conducting. It's pretty exciting, although I wish I could stop getting quite so excited so that I could sleep at night.
Tomorrow we have our first rehearsal with Lalo, I'm really looking forward to adding him to the mix and having three percussionists on three tunes.
When not in rehearsal, I have been spending many hours listening to these rehearsals and practicing my parts and conducting. It's pretty exciting, although I wish I could stop getting quite so excited so that I could sleep at night.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Workin out the details...
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Posicore and beyond....
Another late night here. It's crazy, but I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. The music is almost all written. I just have one more piece to finish. The next rehearsal is on Friday. I am very excited because my good friend and very talented vocalist Maeg O'Donoghue-Williams-Sukarwanto is joining us for this rehearsal. I wrote her a piece based off of an Indonesian poem she recited for me.
I realize that my blogs up until now may be coming across kind of posicore. Posicore is a word friends and I have made up to describe people who are overly positive, in a not-very-connected-to-the-real-world kind of way. Beyond the excitement and exhilaration, there have been some frustrations. I have spent a lot of time wondering why it is that most people do not care if new works of music are being created at all. How many people actually go out to hear music that is adventurous or pushing boundaries? I would say its an extremely small fraction of the population. In so many ways music has no right to be a business, it's more spiritual than that. Because it is so commercialized, the people that are presenting music or people on the radio try to guess what people will like and play to the lowest common denominator. Of course there is great music being made that is doing well, but it is incredibly hard right now to push through to the masses if your music is hard to describe or makes an audience think.
It is also interesting that even amongst those of us who are trying to get more avant-garde music to the people, we can't even support each other. I received my copy of the Earshot Jazz magazine (Seattle's jazz publication) this month, only to find out that they did not do any coverage of the event at all. And this was not for a lack of trying.
I have been working very closely with good friend and fabulous clarinetist/publicist Beth Fleenor to get the word out on the shows. She is why I am doing this blog and she built the website. Her company, The Frank Agency, has been doing the publicity. It has been a lot of fun to brainstorm with her and work on all of this. Even though I wish music was less connected to business, it is still my profession. I do also enjoy the business details (publicity, booking, grantwriting) and think it is important. Right now there is no way around tending to these details if you are serious about trying to make your own music.
I do spend a lot of time worrying and working to try to get the word out about the shows. I will continue to do so. I really want as many people there as possible. But ultimately I have to take my strength from writing the music and playing it with the band. Otherwise, all of the other stuff could truly discourage me.
I realize that my blogs up until now may be coming across kind of posicore. Posicore is a word friends and I have made up to describe people who are overly positive, in a not-very-connected-to-the-real-world kind of way. Beyond the excitement and exhilaration, there have been some frustrations. I have spent a lot of time wondering why it is that most people do not care if new works of music are being created at all. How many people actually go out to hear music that is adventurous or pushing boundaries? I would say its an extremely small fraction of the population. In so many ways music has no right to be a business, it's more spiritual than that. Because it is so commercialized, the people that are presenting music or people on the radio try to guess what people will like and play to the lowest common denominator. Of course there is great music being made that is doing well, but it is incredibly hard right now to push through to the masses if your music is hard to describe or makes an audience think.
It is also interesting that even amongst those of us who are trying to get more avant-garde music to the people, we can't even support each other. I received my copy of the Earshot Jazz magazine (Seattle's jazz publication) this month, only to find out that they did not do any coverage of the event at all. And this was not for a lack of trying.
I have been working very closely with good friend and fabulous clarinetist/publicist Beth Fleenor to get the word out on the shows. She is why I am doing this blog and she built the website. Her company, The Frank Agency, has been doing the publicity. It has been a lot of fun to brainstorm with her and work on all of this. Even though I wish music was less connected to business, it is still my profession. I do also enjoy the business details (publicity, booking, grantwriting) and think it is important. Right now there is no way around tending to these details if you are serious about trying to make your own music.
I do spend a lot of time worrying and working to try to get the word out about the shows. I will continue to do so. I really want as many people there as possible. But ultimately I have to take my strength from writing the music and playing it with the band. Otherwise, all of the other stuff could truly discourage me.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
First rehearsal and more
Alright, I'm back.
Sunday morning was the first rehearsal of The B'shnorkestra ensemble for the September gigs. The day before it I threw a b-day barbecue for my good friend (and violinist) Paris Hurley. About half-way through this barbecue my nerves kicked in. Sometimes I think my brain is incredibly evil. It will imagine every worst scenario out there and kick my body into panic mode. But the party was a blast and I managed to get some sleep that night.
The rehearsal started with everyone introducing themselves. Not everyone knew each other. But soon after that I was thrilled to see each section working together on the parts, figuring it all out. We worked section by section. A lot of the work was things I needed to figure out. Conducting with one hand and playing with the other is not the easiest thing to do, but luckily the trumpet can play that way. As cheesy as this sounds, music really does feel like a jigsaw puzzle to me. I spend a lot of time making the pieces and putting them in their general spots and then as a band we put these pieces together. I was completely thrilled that by the end of the rehearsal we had run two pieces from head to toe. I had hoped to get to three, but I also knew that that was probably overly ambitious. There was a great feeling in the room at the end, and I was so happy to have created that in some way. I left feeling completely exhausted with a pounding head ache but also relieved that it worked (take that brain!).
I went from there to Mt. Saint Helens with my boyfriend, Chris Credit (and saxophonist) to relax and enjoy some really breathtaking scenery. That part of WA is pretty wild. Volcanos create some beautifully devastating landscape. We did some awesome hikes and I sang the remaining two songs I have to finish over and over in my head hoping to get some inspiration out there.
I am now back and ready to power through to the end. I listened to the recordings from the rehearsal and was happy to hear that it still sounded good even after a break.
Sunday morning was the first rehearsal of The B'shnorkestra ensemble for the September gigs. The day before it I threw a b-day barbecue for my good friend (and violinist) Paris Hurley. About half-way through this barbecue my nerves kicked in. Sometimes I think my brain is incredibly evil. It will imagine every worst scenario out there and kick my body into panic mode. But the party was a blast and I managed to get some sleep that night.
The rehearsal started with everyone introducing themselves. Not everyone knew each other. But soon after that I was thrilled to see each section working together on the parts, figuring it all out. We worked section by section. A lot of the work was things I needed to figure out. Conducting with one hand and playing with the other is not the easiest thing to do, but luckily the trumpet can play that way. As cheesy as this sounds, music really does feel like a jigsaw puzzle to me. I spend a lot of time making the pieces and putting them in their general spots and then as a band we put these pieces together. I was completely thrilled that by the end of the rehearsal we had run two pieces from head to toe. I had hoped to get to three, but I also knew that that was probably overly ambitious. There was a great feeling in the room at the end, and I was so happy to have created that in some way. I left feeling completely exhausted with a pounding head ache but also relieved that it worked (take that brain!).
I went from there to Mt. Saint Helens with my boyfriend, Chris Credit (and saxophonist) to relax and enjoy some really breathtaking scenery. That part of WA is pretty wild. Volcanos create some beautifully devastating landscape. We did some awesome hikes and I sang the remaining two songs I have to finish over and over in my head hoping to get some inspiration out there.
I am now back and ready to power through to the end. I listened to the recordings from the rehearsal and was happy to hear that it still sounded good even after a break.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Continuing on...
Here I am writing again. This time not so late night. I am having lots of thoughts as I am composing. I have received such encouraging words from friends over the last few days about this that it makes me want to keep going with this.
It's so interesting how much everyone feeds off of everyone else. Feeding sounds kind of negative, but its not really. It's very hard to live in a bubble. Everyone really depends on others to let them know if they are on the right track or not. For me, I know what I want to do and can feel like I am doing it, but sometimes self doubt kicks in. I think it must for everyone. Encouraging words from friends can help to keep you from letting those feelings take over.
I sent out all of the parts to the musicians today for the three new pieces we will try at the rehearsal on Sunday. This was after many days of really intense work on them. The finishing touches on music is always the least fun. All of the really good and exciting ideas have already come and then you're left with just having to make sure everything is in place for the musician to read it. The sad thing is, I think its nearly impossible to be 100% successful at this part. There are always going to be mistakes, and you're always going to feel bad about that in the rehearsal. Right now, everything is a race for me to make the rehearsal go smoothly. Because, really that's when things get exciting again. You want as little nit-picky details about mistakes in the chart to happen and more collaborating on the music.
I sent out all of the parts to the musicians today for the three new pieces we will try at the rehearsal on Sunday. This was after many days of really intense work on them. The finishing touches on music is always the least fun. All of the really good and exciting ideas have already come and then you're left with just having to make sure everything is in place for the musician to read it. The sad thing is, I think its nearly impossible to be 100% successful at this part. There are always going to be mistakes, and you're always going to feel bad about that in the rehearsal. Right now, everything is a race for me to make the rehearsal go smoothly. Because, really that's when things get exciting again. You want as little nit-picky details about mistakes in the chart to happen and more collaborating on the music.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Why I'm making such a fuss about this.
A little background and why this project is so important for me.
I grew up in an incredibly small town in upstate NY. I was extremely into playing the trumpet and piano. Because it was such small town, there was not much opportunity to be in bands and projects outside of school. From there I went to Bard College in 1999.
At Bard I met a teacher named Erica Lindsay - an incredible saxophonist/composer who became my mentor, teacher, and friend. Under her direction I started to compose. I had also studied a bit with Joan Tower a very famous contemporary composer, but she criticized my rhythm, and I wasn’t fitting into the parameters of that world. With Erica I felt free to explore different kinds of composition, but she would always pull me back when something just wasn’t working.
In 2003, for my senior concert I dove full force into jazz composition to write 13 pieces for different sized ensembles: big band, duos, octets, string groups, and others. It was extremely satisfying and quite a production. I left Bard with goals of continuing to compose.
I moved to Seattle later that same year after meeting musicians out here that I immediately clicked with. Six months after coming here I joined Reptet. Reptet went through multiple configurations of instrumentation, but in a few years it became set as four horns, bass, and drums.
Reptet has been a dream for me as a composer because I am able to try compositional ideas out on these five incredible musicians who have come to know my music. We spend hours working things out, coming up with drum parts, changing solo sections, etc. We also tour around the country bringing the music to venues ranging from rock clubs to kindergartens.
Since moving to Seattle I have also been incredibly busy playing and writing horn lines (with woodwind player Izaak Mills) in Picoso (original salsa music) and Publish The Quest (original world-pop music). I have also played with a multitude of other bands including; Balkan brass bands (Orkestra Zirkonium), reggae bands, jazz big bands, free jazz, klezmer, indie rock, funk, etc. There is an incredible wealth of music being made in this city. The Gemini in me has been inclined to take any gig offered that I could do.
This B'shnorkestra is a huge step for me. After my senior year in college I knew it would be a long time before I had the courage or strength to create a big event based around my compositions. But ultimately I find myself the most satisfied if I am able to write a lot. The only way to do that is to have a group that is solely yours - then there are no parameters to the amount of material you can bring in.
I have always dreamed of writing for strings. Considering I’ve spent eight years and counting focusing on horns and rhythm section, an orchestral ensemble felt like an exciting contrast yet similar choice. In many ways the writing for The B’shnorkestra has really felt like an extension of what I’ve done with Reptet because it’s still using multiple voices to outline chords, rather then a chordal instrument (ie: piano or guitar).
The B’shnorkestra also developed naturally because I met two fantastic string players that became close friends and working partners: Paris Hurley and Jherek Bischoff. There were many other people too that I really wanted to hear play my music, drawing them together from different music worlds.
I don’t think people know how frustrating the process of creating a group can be, mostly due to the fact that it is very hard to nail down good musicians to rehearse and perform your music. That’s just a fact. Eight years after moving here I felt like I could do it. I knew a lot of awesome musicians that I knew would want to work with me. I then set about applying for funding. I have been incredibly lucky to have received three grants so far for this project. Meet The composer, 4culture, and Seattle Mayor’s office of Arts and Cultural Affairs have made this dream possible.
Friday, August 19, 2011
My First Blog
I am doing this late at night. Sometimes doing things late at night reduces fear. I haven't really blogged before, so this feels like new territory. But I guess a lot of things do these days. I am embarking on a new path in my life. I am counting down days until I premiere a new ensemble of mine called The B'shnorkestra. I really feel like I am constantly thinking about these concerts in September. I kind have to be. There's a lot to be done. Today I spent 2 1/2 hours at a print shop trying to get posters the way I want them to be. Nothing is ever as simple as it should be. Despite some frustrations, I am also constantly excited about the premiere.
I played a gig with Reptet tonight that felt great. There is something about playing music that you wrote that feels really exciting. When you play with musicians that you truly admire (and I am lucky to play only with those people), you are constantly struck by the amazingness of having them be focused on something you wrote. It's really quite exhilarating.
I have been spending a lot of time writing. I am most happy when I am doing this. I can't wait for the first rehearsal when I can hear three new tunes played by real musicians. I feel so good about the people in the ensemble. Half of the battle of composing is finding players who you can trust to guide the music in a good direction.
I played a gig with Reptet tonight that felt great. There is something about playing music that you wrote that feels really exciting. When you play with musicians that you truly admire (and I am lucky to play only with those people), you are constantly struck by the amazingness of having them be focused on something you wrote. It's really quite exhilarating.
I have been spending a lot of time writing. I am most happy when I am doing this. I can't wait for the first rehearsal when I can hear three new tunes played by real musicians. I feel so good about the people in the ensemble. Half of the battle of composing is finding players who you can trust to guide the music in a good direction.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)